Crowd Funding Watch: ‘The Big Feminist BUT’ Tackles a Cultural Taboo

Comic book projects that might not otherwise be made through traditional channels are turning to Kickstarter or IndieGoGo in order to crowd-source the funding necessary to get their books to audiences. The Dungeon and Dragon’s-inspired webcomic The Order of The Stick famously raised over $1 million on Kickstarter, and although such success is rare, several well-known creators have turned to the site for their next books. IndieGoGo tends to see fewer comics artists using the online tool, but it’s given international authors the opportunity to break into the U.S. market by directly reaching readers.

ComicsAlliance has been highlighting some of the books that we think have the most potential by breaking down each project to clarify What It Is, How Much It Will Cost, What You Get, When You’ll Get It, and Why You Should Care. This week, we take a look at The Big Feminist BUT, a collection of shorts from independent comic artists including Josh Neufeld, Gabrielle Bell, Jeffrey Brown, Sarah Oleksyk and more that discusses the issues surrounding the cultural taboo of identifying as, you guessed it, a feminist.

Feminism, however you identify with the word, is laced with controversy and preconceptions. From connotations of homosexuality and restricting the freedom of men to the image of the over-sensitive bourgeoisie, many in American culture seemingly feel the need to distance themselves from proudly wearing the label.

Two women, Shannon O’Leary (contributing editor to The Beat) and Joan Reilly (Stud’s Terkel’s Working: A Graphic Adaptation), got tired of hearing phrases like, “I don’t want to sound like a feminist, but…” before someone would describe their support for issues of equality and respect. Their creative friends began making short comic strips around the topic, and so O’Leary and Reilly (title of the a buddy-cop TV show I’m going to pitch — patent pending!) decided to collect the work in The Big Feminist BUT.

What It Is: A book from writers and artists (including editors from io9 and Bitch magazine), both men and women, about their perceptions of feminism through the form of comics shorts.

How Much It Will Cost: $13,995 — hey, it’s not $14,000, right? — that will go towards paying each artist involved, along with the printing costs of the book. In fact, almost $7,000 from the original funding goal will go towards paying contributors.

What You Get: A 200-page, black and white, paperback copy of the collection for at the low-end, up to $250 for an original illustration of yourself by Reilly, with plenty of tiers in-between to fit your wallet.

When You Will Get It: Late February 2013. The content of the book is nearly finished, and is going to print at 1984 Printing in Oakland, California.

Why You Should Care: The collection will feature some first-time creators, which is usually a mixed bag, but always interesting to see. Understanding that the potential of new talent isn’t enough, The Big Feminist BUT will feature Emily S. Flake (New Yorker, The New York Times), Hilary Florido (The Third Horseman), Josh Neufeld (A.D.: New Orleans After the Deluge), Gabrielle Bell (The Voyeurs), Jeffrey Brown (Darth Vader and Son), Sarah Oleksyk (Ivy) and several others.

Many of the contributors to the collection are some of the best creators in the field of black and white, autobiographical comics. If you’re a fan of that genre, you’ll likely enjoy the conversations and through-provoking discussions that The Big Feminist BUT will hopefully create within your own head and in the comics community.

One last item, the IndieGoGo project Magpies that previously mentioned in this column is close to being successfully funded with only a couple days left. Make sure to visit the project’s site before it’s too late.

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